Cookie Policy

This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping baskets, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers.

What are cookies?

Cookies are widely used tiny pieces of software (files) that are installed on a computer or mobile device when an individual visits a website.

By using and browsing this website, you consent to cookies being used in accordance with this policy. If you do not consent, you must turn off cookies or refrain from using the site.

Most browsers allow you to turn off cookies. To do this, look at the ‘help’ menu on your browser. Switching off cookies may restrict your use of this website and/or delay or affect the way in which it operates.

What types of cookies are there?

Broadly, there are 4 types of cookie:

Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies which are essential for the running of a website. Without these cookies, parts of this website would not function. These cookies do not track where you have been on the internet and do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing purposes.

Performance cookies. These cookies collect anonymous information about users for the purpose of assessing the performance of a website. Common uses include well-known web analytics tools such as ‘Google Analytics’.

Functionality cookies. These are cookies that automatically remember choices that users have previously made in order to improve their experience next time they visit a website. For example, where users select their preferred settings and layout.

Targeting or Advertising cookies. These cookies are similar to performance cookies, in that they collect information about users’ behaviour. However, this information is used at individual user level to advertise products and services to users on the basis of the behavioural information collected.

What cookies does this website use?

Cookies used by our website

Social Network Sharing
We encourage users to share our content and/or like our on profile on the popular Social Media websites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn. In order to make ‘Social Sharing’ accessible, our website utilises widgets either provided directly from the Social Networks and/or via amalgamative widgets from third parties such as AddThis. Cookies and privacy implications from the social networks vary and will be dependent on your nominated privacy settings with each Social Network. Social Sharing buttons will only deploy cookies if you are signed to that respective Social Network at the time of being on our website.

Analytical Tracking
Our website has Google Analytics installed which allows us to track and compile anonymous visitor statistics. The information collected ranges from simple traffic volume to the type of browser you are viewing our website with. This information is valuable to us not just for marketing analysis and quantification, but to improve the usability, security and load speed of our website content. Google Analytics is a popular, secure, flagship webmaster product from Google. The privacy and security of Google Analytics data is a high priority at Google that you can read more about on Google’s Analytics Data Safeguarding page. Google also offer a Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on that will allow you to automatically Opt-out of all websites that track your activity via Google Analytics. No personal information is collected by Google Analytics.

Cookie Consent Check
Upon your first visit to our website, you will notice a subtle banner on the page alerting you to the fact that cookies are being placed onto your computer by our website. In order for our website to remember your choice of opting-in, we store a cookie which expires after the set amount of days below (see table).

WordPress
Our website, either in full or in part, is built on the popular open-source CMS framework – WordPress. WordPress utilises cookies to allow visitors to register, login and comment on our website’s content. If you do not wish to participate in commenting on our website, WordPress will not deploy any cookies onto your device. Cookies will only be created by WordPress if you actively register or comment via the clear forms on our website.

Enquiry Forms
Our website’s visitors can choose to contact us via form(s) on our website. In order to prevent spam enquiries, we protect our forms with anti-spam challenges which ensure the visitor is an actual living person, rather than a computer bot or spider.

Strictly necessary cookies:

This website is built using WordPress which includes some necessary cookies, including for logged in users. For more information visit https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Cookies

Performance cookies:

_ga, _gat, _gid, collect, r/collect This website uses a tool called Google Analytics to provide statistical data on the performance of the website. These cookies are placed by Google Analytics.
wpSGCacheBypass Used to improve the speed and performance of the website by our web hosting provider, SiteGround.Actual cookies deployed
Below is a table of information which lists all cookies deployed and used on our website.

Cookie Category

Cookie Name

Cookie Description

Cookie Consent

Cookie Notice

This cookie is set by our website once you have seen and acknowledged our Cookie banner. This cookie will expire and automatically delete itself after [30] days.

Google Analytics (Universal)

_ga

The single default cookie for Google Universal Analytics. This sole cookie used by Goole Analytics stores a unique client identifier (Client ID) which is set randomly. This cookie is set to expire after 24 months (2 years) and is refreshed each time you visit our website.

_utma

A Google Analytics cookie, which keeps track of the number of times, a visitor has been to the site, when their first visit was, and when their last visit occurred

_utmb

A Google Analytics cookie, which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor enters a site.

_utmc

A Google Analytics cookie, which creates a timestamp of the exact moment when a visitor leaves the site.

_utmv

Used for reporting in Google Analytics classifying the visitor.

Google Analytics (Classic)

_utmz

A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from.

A Google Analytics cookie which tracks where the visitor came from, what search engine was used, what link was clicked on, what keywords used, and where in the world the site was accessed from.

Several WP Settings cookies may be set if you log into the website. The number on the end is your individual user ID from the users database table. This is used to customise your view of admin interface, and possibly also the main site interface.

wordpress_test_cookie
wordpress_
wordpress_logged_in

These WordPress session cookies are created if and when you log into WordPress either as an administrator or contributor to the website.

WordPress

comment_author
comment_author_email
comment_author_url

If you choose to submit a discussion/comment to our website, you will be asked to provide certain information about yourself including your name, email and website address.

Wordfence

“Live Traffic” cookie:

To determine if someone is a human or bot, identify repeat visitors and display this in the Live Traffic feed.

Country Blocking:

Only when set Wordfence will block countries accessing the site.

Session cookie:

Used when someone is logged into the site, to prevent them from getting blocked by accident while working in WordPress admin.

Cache

How to disable cookies

Most modern browsers allow you to control your cookie settings for all websites that you browse. You can disable cookie deployment completely by editing your browser settings, however in doing this you may be limiting the functionality that is displayed on our website. To learn how to disable cookies on your preferred browser we recommend reading this advice posted by Google.

If you are concerned about cookies tracking your movements on the Internet then you may be concerned about spyware. Spyware is the name given to a particular band of cookies that track personal information about you. There are many antispyware programs that you can use to prevent this from happening. Learn more about antispyware software – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware. You call also disable Google Analytics on all websites by downloading the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.